Which of the following best explains why most states have the legal dr

Which of the following best explains why most states have the legal drinking age set at 21 years old?

a. At 21 years of age, most Americans consider a person an adult.
b. College is completed, and employment has begun by 21 years of age.
c. Most 21-year-olds are self-supporting and no longer dependent on parents.
d. The alcohol-related death rate rose alarmingly when drinking age was lowered to 18 years.

ESSAYBID ANSWER

ANS: D
Alcohol use was highest during the 1980s, when states lowered the drinking age to 18 years of age. Lawmakers became alarmed at the increased rate of drinking and the increased number of alcohol-related deaths among 18- to 25-year-olds after lowering the drinking age and therefore reversed the decision. During the late 1980s, alcohol use declined after the minimum drinking age was reinstated to 21 years of age. Thus, the significance of the legal drinking age of 21 has to do with the problems experienced when the legal drinking age was lowered to 18, not that 21-year-olds are considered to be “adults”, employed, or self-supporting by this age.